**Imp note at the end. Read, please. Thank you!**

Riddhima met up with her college friends. Muskaan complained, "Girl, I know you're getting famous and all, but spare some time for your friends too!"

Riddhima narrowed her eyes, "Since when do you copy Khushi's dramatic antics?"

Muskaan defended herself, "What? I'm allowed to crib a little. We barely see you outside of classes anymore."

"Not getting enough love from Rahul, is that it?" Riddhima teased her and this time, Muskaan rolled her eyes.

"Forget Rahul, he's old news. Let's talk about you and Armaan."

Riddhima exaggerated, "Haw, shame on you Muski for talking about your boyfriend like that."

"He knows I love him." She brushed it off, "Now, you and Armaan?"

Riddhima gave in and fessed up, "All good. You know, he's busy with promotions and my exams are just in a few days."

She questioned the contradiction. "You two barely get any time together and you're saying all good?" 

Riddhima smiled in response, "Muski, we've had so many years together that now... the lack of time isn't too bothering. Seeing him for just five minutes in a day is more than enough for me. I know..." She chuckled at how sappy she must be sounding, but it's what she felt. "I know it's tough right now but our time will come."

They both were far from settled. She did not mind waiting for both of their careers to be stable.

"Hey, we're all getting together tonight for dinner. Come. It'll be good for you to spend time with all of us." Muskaan suggested changing the topic eventually. "You know you need it after how stressful the last few days have been."

"Sure, better than being home alone," Riddhima accepted. "Time for my hospital shift. Text me the deets?"

Muskaan confirmed, "You got it."

===

In between the lecture, a peon disturbed with a news, "Dr. Kirti, Dean has requested to see Riddhima Gupta."

Hearing her name, Riddhima glanced up from her notebook where she was jotting down notes. Dr. Kirti nodded at her to give her permission. She gathered her things and walked out of the classroom.

She knocked on the door after reaching the Dean's office and pushed it in. Instead of the Dean, she was met with a familiar face of Mr. Malik.

===

In a calm tone, a complete contrast of him, she answered. "You don't think I know what this'll mean for me? I do, Armaan. But look at it this way. You can't afford to be sued right now. Your parents need you. And with Arnav back in Khushi's life, she's going to want to break this engagement deal. She needs you. That can't happen if you're sued, or if you go on a month tour. It's not about me, right now. It's about the people who need you. And if you still want me to be selfish, then have this reason. I need you to be there for your sister, my best friend. I need you to not end up in jail because if anything happens to you, I don't know what I'll do. I need you. Is that enough selfishness?"

With each sentence of hers, she was stealing his temper away and she could see that changing in his eyes, his relaxing form, and the crinkles leaving his forehead, his palm unclenching from the fist. 

His gaze flickered to her upper arms where the bruised imprint of his long fingers were starting to form. "Shit." He muttered reaching forward to caress the bruise but she hissed in response, flinching at the pain. His eyes filled with guilt and pulled her head to his chest, embracing her and mumbling apologies close to her ear. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper on you. I'm sorry."

"You didn't do it on purpose. Forget about it, it happens." She assured him by patting his back and quickly pulling back to keep her emotions at bay.

His guilt didn't lessen, but he still released her and unlocked the car when she nodded towards it, indicating they should get home.

===

Mr. Malik remained seated in the chair as he spoke, "This is what you meant when you said he had other things happening in his life."

It was no longer a question. The news he'd watched had told him everything he needed to know.

Riddhima tried to be polite since she did not want to give him any answers, "Mr. Malik, when did you get back from US?"

He kept at his line of conversation, "Riddhima, why didn't you tell me this before?"

Riddhima sighed upon understanding that this time, she wasn't going to be able to talk her way out. "Why should I have? You haven't given me any reason to trust you."

"Riddhima, tell me, what can I do for you to trust my intentions? I have been trying for the last three years!"

Riddhima's brows narrowed in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Mr. Malik stood up and walked towards her as he explained, "See, you might take this as a planned tactic and it may as well be, but after I first met you in Shimla, I knew I needed to get through you first. You'd obviously shown you cared for Armaan and knew him enough to know he wouldn't want to meet me. So I tried to find out about you as much as I could. When I learned you were a pretty good singer, I sent a music director to offer you a break. But then I learned you'd worked it around to give that chance to Armaan. I thought I could get to know him this way too so I let it be. I've tried to help him as best I could over the years. I've even done everything you asked since you've returned. What more can I do?"

Riddhima was at loss of words. She always suspected his involvement after finding out the owner of Silver Linings was him. She had never thought this was his intention behind it. All he'd tried to do is get to know his son, whichever way he thought was fit. She always tried to not judge others harshly... then why had she done this now?

Well, she did know the answer. Armaan was her blindside. When it concerned him she was more protective.

"I've always stood by him," She didn't know why but she started to justify herself. "We hurt each other, but we always protect each other from the world."

He smiled at her kindly, "Riddhima, you're ferocious when it comes to protecting your own from getting hurt and I respect you for that, but please understand that he is my son. He may not want to get to know me, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't want that. I'll never stop trying."

Riddhima embraced what was happening and nodded. Taking his hand and placing it in between hers, she promised, "I'll try too, Billy Uncle."

The words were a dream for him. It wasn't just her promise. More so, it was the way she finally referred to him as if he weren't a stranger but someone with an undeniable connection to Armaan.

===

Riddhima was woken up with Muskaan and Rahul jumping at either sides of her, shaking her to get up. "Ri, Ri, Ri! Wake up! Armaan says you're going to sing a song in the album. Is this true? Because I swear today isn't April Fools." Muskaan gushed.

Riddhima groaned, wanting to go back to sleep. Khushi got out of bed, muttering for Armaan to get his friends in order, not appreciating being woken up on sleep either. Armaan spoke, "You might as well get up, Basket."

Riddhima's eyes flew open at hearing his voice in the room, remembering how last night, he had been home so it was natural he'd be here in the morning, ready to go to college with them instead of meeting them straight in the class.

She found him leaning against the frame of the door just as Khushi passed him to use the adjoined washroom. He was dressed in a pale peach button up shirt, sleeves folded just enough to hint at the tattoo that laid underneath along with a pair of very normal looking faded jeans. It may be the most normal outfit out there. But he still looked like a freaking model stepped out of a magazine with disheveled wet hair and that boyish dimpled grin that always had her swooning.

Rahul's voice pulled her away from gaze locking with his, "Is it true?!"

She sat up, the blanket falling and pooling around her hips. Running her fingers through her knotted tresses, she confirmed. "Yes."

Though her confirmation was ignored as Muskaan whistled. "Oo. Sexy sports bra, babe." Riddhima's eyes wandered down to realize what she had fallen asleep in. Well, she usually went to bed in it, but it was always a private fact given no one forced her out of sleep quite like this by bursting into her room. The only people who knew were Khushi and Abhi since they'd be sleeping next to her to help her fall asleep.

Armaan had to scold himself to look away from the perfect fit of them around her breasts and the exposed navel. She found him trying to avoid her gaze and instead of tugging the blanket to her as he had expected her to, she rolled her eyes at Muskaan and stood up, pushing it aside.

"As if you don't wear comfortable things to sleep."

"Yeah, his shirts usually." Muskaan was quick to offer, "But they cover, you know?"

"I don't need to know your sex life, Muski. Get out." She pulled her off the bed, Rahul getting up on his own, and pushed the two out towards the door.

"Mean much?" Muski scolded her, but leaving nonetheless.

Riddhima placed her hands on her hips, looking at Armaan who was rooted to the floor. "You too, or do I need to give you separate invitation."

"It's my house!" He made the argument for the sake of it.

She retorted, "My room," and used her tiny hands to turn him around and nudge him out enough that she could shut the door and get ready for the day in peace.

She pushed the bathroom door open that Khushi had left unlocked. Spitting paste out of her mouth, Khushi teased. "Give everyone a good show?"

"Brush your teeth." She scolded, picking up her own toothbrush and paste.

Khushi laughed after she'd gargled and washed it off. "Honestly don't understand how you can find sports bras comfortable to sleep in."

"I'm not forcing you to wear them." She mumbled before putting the brush in her mouth. She preferred those over lose shirts. She had tried loose shirts at first. But they always slid up and bunched just under her breasts, troubling her every time she'd try to turn sides. It's why she had switched to sports bras. No wires. Comfortable fabric. And it'd stay in one place.

Just before leaving the apartment for the day, Riddhima made sure to grab the book Armaan had given her so she could start reading.

===

During lunch, she found a quiet location under one of the trees in the green on campus to read. Luckily, she had sneaked out of the class without any of the classmates or her group of friends finding her, giving her the alone time she needed.

She opened the cover to the first page.

For, My Basket

Curious to see what was ahead, she flipped the page. On the right side in his neat handwriting, he began.

Basket... this isn't how I imagined we would leave between us. But... I'm writing this for you because I promised you that no matter where we were in the world, I'd daily tell you what was going on in my life. You know how much I hate breaking promises. So, I'm going to write you everything I want to say, everything I wish I had said to you before you left. I just hope that one day, you'll give me the chance to fix my mistakes; that you'll talk to me again; that I won't have to fill up volumes of these things; that this isn't our end, and that I can give you this. My everything.

Yours, Armaan.

With a heavy heart, she tried to breathe though there was a ruckus in her chest with blood pounding hard enough for her to be able to hear it in her brain. She was almost afraid to turn the page and actually start reading this journal. His starting note itself had been intense for her.

Everything he wanted to say... wish he had said... fix his mistakes... give her this... his everything.

She was familiar with how extreme his emotions could be. If he hated, he hated with everything. If he loved, he loved with everything. And never did he go back on his words or those emotions. If she hadn't known it before, it was clear with this short note itself. She held his heart. He had given it to her for her to do as she wished with it.

She mumbled, "I hate you, Armaan," for doing this to her. Why did he always have to bring out intensity in everything? She had imagined it might have been just a book filled with pictures, a scrap book perhaps. Or even a lyrics book like she kept, that he might have started to dabble in writing over the years.

This?

Pouring his hear out?

It wasn't anywhere on her list.

===

Armaan looked for Riddhima at the end of the day. She hadn't come to any of the lectures after lunch. He had left several messages over the day. He had called in between classes. She hadn't answered to any of it. Beyond worried, he walked towards the parking lot, planning to go home and check if she had skipped the rest of the day for some reason and gone home. He momentarily stopped his large strides at finding her leaning against the car. Something lifted off his chest, allowing him to breathe freely upon seeing her again, safe. Then, he felt the irritation at how worried sick he had been. He resumed his quick pace. Coming within ear shot, he demanded. "You better have lost your phone because otherwise you don't have a damn legit reason for not replying to hundreds of messages and phone calls I left."

"Pretty sure 18 messages and 7 phone calls don't total to hundreds." She passed the smart answer, looking down at her phone screen to double check the number.

He grabbed it and looked at it before giving a sassy retort, "Oh, look at that! You do have service!" His tone then turned to scolding, "You know what people do when they have service? Reply!"

"Would you relax?"

"No! Where in the world were you?"

Glancing away and taking her phone back, she dropped the sassy remarks. Reaching into her bag, she pulled it out, forwarding it for him to take it. "I was reading this."

His irritation left at once. "Oh." Holding it by the binding, he took it back. "And?" He asked, voice filled with nervousness and eyes vulnerable.

She glanced up into his ocean colored eyes at the one worded question that held everything. She gulped to suppress her own jitters. "And, let's talk."

===

authors note:

quite a chapter, right? Vote, vote, vote, and comment!! I'll be replying to all the pending comments sometime this week!

Aaannddd, it may seem that I'm updating this less frequently and even in those chapters, there is an uneven balance with more on past than present and so you deserve an explanation. So, thing is, I have to write the future chapters. I haven't gotten the chance to lately and right now, I only have chapter 16 written. Usually, I write 5-7 chapters ahead of the chapter I publish for you to read so I can work on plot and change things around if I change my mind about the way the story is shaping. I have to still think of how I am going to bring the past and present timeline to come together as we near the end. I'm aiming for 10 more chapters for this book.

Unfortunately, I know life is only going to get busier in February as I have 3 back to back conferences coming up, 2 of which are at professional level and there's lots of work yet to complete. 

I will do my best to write a little every day and the chapters here on out may not be remotely polished but I hope you'll understand and be patient.. I'd really appreciate it! <3